Streptococcus Mutans - Cariogenic Potential

Cariogenic Potential

The etiological agent of dental caries is associated with its ability to metabolize various sugars, form a robust biofilm, produce an abundant amount of lactic acid, and thrive in the acid environment it generates.

Dental caries is a dental biofilm-related oral disease associated with increased consumption of dietary sugar. When dental biofilms remain on tooth surfaces, along with frequent consumption of sugar, acidogenic bacteria (members of dental biofilms) will metabolize the sugar to organic acids. Persistence of this acidic condition encourages the proliferation of acidogenic and aciduric bacteria as a result of their ability to survive at a low-pH environment. The low-pH environment in the biofilm matrix erodes the surface of the teeth and begins the "initiation" of the dental caries. If the adherence of S. mutans to the surface of teeth or the physiological ability (acidogenity and aciduricity) of S. mutans in dental biofilms can be reduced or eliminated, the acidification potential of dental biofilms and later cavity formations can be decreased.

Susceptibility to disease varies between individuals and immunological mechanisms have been proposed to confer protection or susceptibility to the disease. These mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated but it seems that while antigen presenting cells are activated by S. mutans in vitro, they fail to respond in vivo. Immunological tolerance to S. mutans at the mucosal surface may make individuals more prone to colonisation with S. mutans and therefore increase susceptibility to dental caries.